Residents of Ghattaragi village and farmers staging a protest on Saturday outside the Tehsil office in Afzalpur with the body of a farmer who was found dead.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The suicide by 57-year-old farmer Chandrakant Belur of Ghattaragi village in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district due to a financial crisis led to a farmers outcry against the State government on Saturday.
Various farmers from across the taluk led by the former district APMC president and BJP leader Avvanna Myakeri staged a protest with the body in front of the Tehsil office in Afzalpur town.
The agitating farmers kept the body outside the Tehsil office located on the Kalaburagi-Vijayapura State Highway and blocked the road for nearly four hours.
The protest was withdrawn only after the Joint Director of the Agriculture Department visited the protesting farmers and assured them that compensation for crop loss will be provided to the family members of the deceased farmer.
Meanwhile, Afzalpur MLA M.Y. Patil visited the bereaved family of the farmer and assured it that the State government will provide compensation and also a monthly pension of ₹2,000 to it.
Expressing displeasure over the functioning of the State government, Mr. Myakeri accused the Congress-led government of becoming increasingly autocratic as it has failed to prevent farmer suicides.
The deceased farmer had borrowed ₹40 lakh loan from a bank and also private moneylenders and unable to bear the burden of loans, he ended his life.
(Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani on Ph: 104 for help.)
Published – March 23, 2025 07:44 pm IST